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Friday, February 12, 2016

Ex-Isle by Peter Clines

I know I'm not the only one who was a little concerned when the final pages of Ex-Purgatory drew the story to a close. Was that it?! Was that all we'd see of St. George, Stealth, Zzzap, Corpse Girl, Captain Freedom, and The Driver?

Fortunately for us all, it wasn't the end!

The Mount has been doing ok but growing needs and the ever-present threat of the exes means the time has come for expansion. This is made even more clear when fire decimates part of the surrounding area. That's where Eden comes in. Once a thriving community garden, Stealth and the others have been working to fortify it so it can be a reliable food source for The Mount. Unfortunately it's starting to look like they haven't been working fast enough. Meanwhile, Zzzap has been searching worldwide for other survivors and has found an interesting settlement somewhere in the middle of the ocean. Hundreds of people have apparently banded together to create a floating island made of a variety of ships. They've even begun farming on the deck of a tanker. But the fact that the "island" is floating freely means Zzzap and St. George have very little time for a recon mission if they're to find it again easily. And with the growing concerns about getting Eden ready for the coming grow season, The Mount can't really afford to spare the two heroes. A plan is devised and the two, along with Corpse Girl, set off for a one week mission. But as with most plans, things quickly begin to get out of control both for the mission and for Eden.

So we're multiple years into the "zombocalypse" and our heroes have so far thrived in their new community. To an extent. They're still reeling from the events of Ex-Purgatory and a few of them are having a harder time coming to grips with that than others.

But the community soldiers on nonetheless!

Of course the time would come when scavenged can foods and such would start to become scarce, though as Kennedy points out in Ex-Isle, much of LA has still yet to be bled dry in that sense. But it makes sense that the community would now have outgrown its earlier attempts at farming and that a larger and more permanent solution would be needed.

Eden offers not only that but a great way to move the plot out of The Mount and add some different sources of tension to the growing series. As does Lemuria, the floating island of ships!

Peter Clines is definitely a favorite in our house. In fact, hubs yet again stole this one before I had the chance to dive in. He (Clines) is also one of my favorites to recommend to readers looking for a fun new series to start. In addition to being action-packed (it's superheroes and zombies, y'all, it'd have to be), Clines has a great sense of humor and a penchant for fabulous pop culture references (um, if you miss the Stephen King one in Ex-Isle I feel sad for you). Plus, as the series grows we're learning more and more about the various characters, new and old.

Clines splits the books into "Then" and "Now" chapters, offering readers insight into heroes and non and how they've changed throughout their ordeal. In this case, parallels between characters at The Mount and Lemuria gives readers the chance to see just how the two different communities evolved into what they are "now."

As always, I've tried not to give you anything too spoilery here, especially if you've yet to read the series. I do highly suggest reading the books in order: Ex-Heroes, Ex-Patriots, Ex-Communication, Ex-Purgatory, and then Ex-Isle.
Rating: 5/5

PS If you happen to be suffering from a major book slump, this is a perfect slump-busting series!